All Crime Is Personal

Jeffrey May

(Log in info) Some good news out of Red Lake. The two kids who were most seriously injured at Red Lake High School seem to be improving.

First Steven Cobenais…

For the first time in more than two weeks, Red Lake High School shooting victim Steven Cobenais was able to speak to his parents Monday.

The words, spoken from his intensive-care bed just after his breathing tube was removed, could have come from any teenage at almost any time.

“I’m hungry,” he uttered.

MeritCare neurosurgeon Alex Mendez said Tuesday that he had wondered if Cobenais would ever get to this point.

“This kid’s going to die on me,” is what Mendez recalled thinking when he first saw Cobenais’ CT scan revealing a brain riddled with bullet fragments.

Cobenais, who was shot in the forehead and has lost his left eye, is now in serious condition. He has made miracles out of mundane tasks, such as squeezing a hand when asked to and talking in short sentences, Mendez said.

And he eats Jell-O.

No small feat when doctors are concerned about your ability to swallow. There are still the rehab and health hazards to guard against, but Cobenais is off on the right foot, Mendez said.